MARKET DAYS: SAT. 12/3 & SUN. 12/4!
SATURDAY DEC. 3rd & SUNDAY DEC. 4th, 2011, 10am-5pm at SHOPS AT THE MARKETPLACE.
Live entertainment from Award-Winning Mariachi Multi-Cultural from Berklee College of Music in Boston from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the stage by the clock tower.


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Trump ramps up feud with Canada, France ahead of G-7 summit
President Trump Donald John TrumpSanders apologizes to Biden for supporter's op-ed Jayapal: 'We will end up with another Trump' if the US doesn't elect progressive Democrats: McConnell impeachment trial rules a 'cover up,' 'national disgrace' MORE ramped up a burgeoning feud with two of the United States's closest allies, Canada and France, on Thursday as he prepared to head to the Canadian province of Quebec for what is expected to be a tense summit this week.
In a tweet on Thursday night, Trump accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being "indignant" in his protests against steep U.S. tariffs imposed last week on steel and aluminum imports.
"Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn't bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!" Trump tweeted.
Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn't bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2018
The tweet followed shortly after he called out both Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron over what he suggested were Canada's and Europe's one-sided trade arrangements with the U.S.
The president went on to slam the European Union and Canada in a subsequent tweet, urging them to take down their trade barriers.
"Why isn't the European Union and Canada informing the public that for years they have used massive Trade Tariffs and non-monetary Trade Barriers against the U.S. Totally unfair to our farmers, workers & companies. Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!" Trump wrote.
Why isn't the European Union and Canada informing the public that for years they have used massive Trade Tariffs and non-monetary Trade Barriers against the U.S. Totally unfair to our farmers, workers & companies. Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!
Trump's comments were his latest attacking key U.S. allies ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, which is set to begin on Friday.
The anger and frustration with the Trump administration from key U.S. allies was abundant on Thursday, with Macron suggesting that the G-7's six other members would forge a path ahead at the summit without the U.S.
"The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be," Macron said in a tweet. "Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force."
The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force https://t.co/UA86fcjozs
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 7, 2018
Trudeau and Macron met in Ottawa this week ahead of the summit, where they joined together in a united front against Trump's tightening trade measures.
Frustration with the U.S. among some of Washington's oldest allies has grown in recent months over Trump's decision to impose steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
Global leaders have also been flummoxed by Trump's move to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, while repeatedly threatening to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
Frustrations from U.S. allies over the latest metal tariffs are almost certain to come into play as the G-7 kicks off on Friday.
Tags Donald Trump Canada France G7 Nafta Tariffs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Stephen Odzer
Prioritizing Family: Stephen Odzer of New York Looks at Ways to Maintain Balance and Prioritize Family Even with a Busy Work Schedule
"Work-life balance" is a buzzphrase we hear often in the corporate world. But achieving a true balance between your work and family lives is about much more than flexible hours and unlimited PTO. Finding that balance is important to your success and quality of life overall, says Stephen Odzer of New York.
Advancements in technology have brought many improvements to our lives, including the ability to stay connected from just about anywhere. While this is a boon to our personal lives, it can become a burden when your work commitments start to encroach on your personal life. As the CEO of a major distribution company and a family man, Stephen Odzer of New York has first-hand advice on how to prioritize your family and maintain a work-life balance – even in the face of a busy work schedule.
Establish Boundaries and Unplug Advises Stephen Odzer of New York
Modern technology is both a blessing and a curse. While it allows us to remain informed and connected with family across great distances, it also keeps us connected to work through our laptops and phones. Home used to be a completely separate place from work, but now we're accessible 24-hours a day says Stephen Odzer.
Checking your email at all hours distracts you from family time and chips away at the rest time your brain desperately needs to avoid burnout. The pandemic has further blurred that line with people working from home and around their kids' schedules. It's easy to get sucked into a never-ending stream of emails, phone calls, and workflows when you're working and living in the same space.
That's why it's important to set strong boundaries about your availability and hours, says Stephen Odzer. If you work in an office, set an away message to automatically respond once you leave the office. Something simple like, "My hours are between 8 am and 5 pm. I'll get back to you as soon as possible tomorrow morning," works just fine.
If you work from home, you can do the same thing. Set an alarm for the end of the workday and when it goes off, stand up and walk away from your desk. This is a signal to your brain and to your family that work is over and now it's time to focus on family.
Make One Night "Family Night"
Another way to prioritize family is to set aside a specific evening each week suggests Stephen Odzer of New York. Make this night sacred – block it off on your calendar and don't schedule over it. Movie night, game night, legos, reading together, making dinner – whatever it is that brings you and your family together, this is the time for it.
Most parents can't join in on after-school fun every night. You still have to spend time with your spouse, deal with household issues, clean up, and attend other social functions, after all. But this is a night that you can all look forward to as a family – a night where everything stops except for enjoying one another's company.
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www.reneeruin.com: BLACK MARE // "Death Magick Mother"
BLACK MARE // "Death Magick Mother"
"Death Magick Mother" is the second proper full length album from Los Angeles, California's BLACK MARE. Seven songs in length, this documentation captures Timms amidst a dynamic cohesion and confluence of inspiration unlike any prior. Whereas previous output operated under a founding principle of rhythmic repetition and atmospheric simplicity toward trace-like escapism, "Death Magick Mother" is Timms stepping right in front of the lens for a closeup. Mixed by Andrew Clinco (of Drab Majesty), bolder arrangements lend themselves toward soaring, dynamic vocal melodies and nuanced harmonization to highly-satisfying effect. Spot-on performances and command of all instrumentation across the spectrum further propels the sense of arrival in mastery over her chosen craft. In many ways, this album is an awakening for both its creator and listeners alike.
"Death Magick Mother" releases digitally everywhere on September 15, 2017 with LP's not far behind. Live appearances are robust in conjunction with the album's release and range from a midnight ceremony in celebration of a total eclipse with France's CELESTE, a women's mass replete with a bloodletting ritual, and even a traditional tour of the western United States in direct support of JUNIUS.


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This gene encodes a member of the paired box (PAX) family of transcription factors. The central feature of this gene family is a novel, highly conserved DNA-binding motif, known as the paired box. PAX proteins are important regulators in early development, and alterations in the expression of their genes are thought to contribute to neoplastic transformation. This gene encodes the B-cell lineage specific activator protein that is expressed at early, but not late stages of B-cell differentiation. Its expression has also been detected in developing CNS and testis and so the encoded protein may also play a role in neural development and spermatogenesis. This gene is located at 9p13, which is involved in t(9;14)(p13;q32) translocations recurring in small lymphocytic lymphomas of the plasmacytoid subtype, and in derived large-cell lymphomas. This translocation brings the potent E-mu enhancer of the IgH gene into close proximity of the PAX5 promoter, suggesting that the deregulation of transcription of this gene contributes to the pathogenesis of these lymphomas. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described but their biological validity has not been determined. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008].
Alternative names: ALL3; BSAP
Anti-PAX5 Antibody
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Over the years, dentists have tried a variety of methods to replace missing teeth. They used both removable and fixed dentures. The later one also has many different types, ranging from bar-retained dentures, through classic bridges, to implant supported dentures. The last one is deemed to be the most modern procedure.
Fixed dentures have many benefits compared to the removable types. They are more stable, firm in their place. For this reason they make chewing and speaking more secure. This results in a better mood and quality of life for the one who has such teeth.
In this case, which involves the usage of clips, dentists fix partial dentures. Partial dentures become necessary if some teeth are missing from the dental arch, thus a minor gap needs to be bridged. Such partial dentures have many benefits. Firstly, they restore the ability to chew. Secondly, they prevent the remaining teeth from moving towards the those parts of the jawbone where there is no tooth left. Furthermore, they improve the facial aesthetics of patients, especially in the case of the front teeth.
During the procedure the dentist places the false teeth on a metal bar, the two edge of which ends in clips. Then he fixes the clips on the remaining teeth. The advantage of this technique is that the denture is firmly fixed in the mouth, keeping the false teeth tightly in their place. Its disadvantage is that the clips are visible, which does not provide a really aesthetic sight. Another disadvantage is that the clips put a strain on the healthy teeth they are connected with and thus erode them.
Dental bridges are modern and widespread tools for making fixed dentures. They have many different types, ranging from bridges that use porcelain-metal crowns, to pressed ceramic bridges, and zirconia bridges.
When using this method, the specialist grinds the unhurt teeth on each side of the gap. This happens to an extent necessary to fix the bridges safely on the teeth. Each of the two units on the ends of the structure functioning as a bridge over the missing teeth is a crown, and these crowns are fitted on the ground tooth abutments. The false teeth, which serve as a replacement for the missing teeth, are fixed between the tooth abutments.
This method is perfect for bridging larger gaps by replacing more than one missing tooth at once. Its disadvantage is that the dentist must grind down the tooth abutments. This means the removal of a greater or smaller part from the material of entire unhurt teeth as a preparation for the procedure.
For bridging larger gaps metal bridge frameworks or extremely hard zirconia bridges are the best solution. The pressed ceramic (solely porcelain) bridges containing no metal are not suitable for such purposes, as they cannot withstand the bending force present.
There is also an intermediate solution for replacing two teeth at most. In this case the dentist does not need to grind the unhurt teeth holding the bridge, just makes a but a tiny niche in their surface. The two outer formulas at the ends of the bridge are fixed into these niches as dental inlays.
We must mention the bridges made from zirconium dioxide, as these are more and more prevalent products of modern dentistry. Zirconium dioxide is really strong material, even more solid than metal. It can especially withstand bending forces, which makes it absolutely suitable for bridging larger interdental gaps. Since it does not contain any metal or allergen, anybody can use it safely.
In addition, its aesthetic properties are significant. It is just as transparent as natural teeth. For this reason, bridges (teeth) made from this material are really similar to the natural dental arches. Its additional benefit is that it lets X-rays through. Thus, on the part of the tooth abutments, which is under the bridge, any problem can be recognized at a really early stage without removing the bridge.
Nowadays, implant-supported dentures are the most modern procedure. A great advantage of this technique is that it spares the unhurt teeth. The structure forming a bridge over the absence of teeth (the bridge) sits on the jawbone's implants instead of on ground teeth. Just two well ossified false roots are enough to provide adequate stability to bridges of normal length.
If many or all of the teeth are missing, dentists use more than one implants to fix the bridges. This way, they can replace even entire lower or upper dental arches in the long run.
The slight disadvantage of this method is that it takes a long a time. Getting a fixed denture with the traditional way (the grinding of tooth abutments) usually only takes a few weeks. But the fixed implant supported denture can be placed after about half a year. This is the amount of time necessary for the supporting false root to heal and ossify. The patient has to bear a minor dental surgical procedure as well. The long-term advantages, however, amply compensate the patient for the inconveniences.
Implants may also grant a better quality of life to those who have removable complete dentures. In the completely edentulous mouth, the adhesive forces, the muscle tone, and the force of gravity hold the denture in its place. Even when combined, these forces cannot provide enough support for the process of chewing and speaking. However, two lower and four upper implants can provide great stability to the removable dentures. Chewing and speaking become more firm, the confidence of the individual increases.
Patients who can receive implants may also consider a replacement. This means that by having a bit more implants their complete removable dentures could be replaced with more convenient solutions of fixed bridges.
What can you do in case of a missing tooth?


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Every Controversial Thing Meghan Markle's Family Has Said About Her
Kelsey Goeres
Since Meghan Markle went public with her and Prince Harry's relationship, there have been a few members of Markle's family who were eager to speak to the media about their thoughts and opinions on the couple, or, specifically, their thoughts on Markle.
Read on for a look at every controversial thing Markle's family has said about her.
1. Markle's half-brother, Thomas Jr., was shocked by this comment from Prince Harry
He's not happy with what Prince Harry said about his family. | Inside Edition
When Prince Harry was on Radio 4's Today program, he gushed about what a lovely first Christmas he and Markle enjoyed with the royal family. He said she fit right in and that the royal family was quickly becoming the family she never had.
Thomas Jr., Markle's half-brother, heard about Harry's statement and gave his own response to the Daily Mail: "It was just a little shocking because Meghan had an amazing, amazing childhood growing up and she had a lot of family."
Next: Thomas Jr. asked Markle for help after an altercation he had with his fiancée.
2. Thomas Jr. says he's having a hard time with the royal engagement
Her brother was disappointed when she wouldn't talk to him about this. | Chris Jackson/Getty Images
According to In Touch, Thomas Jr. reportedly asked Markle for help after an altercation he had with his fiancée. He said the fight happened because of all the pressure he was feeling thanks to the royal engagement.
When Markle didn't help her half-brother out, he said it was a "slap in the face."
Next: Markle's half-sister has been all over the map with her statements about Meghan.
3. Markle's half-sister, Samantha Grant, keeps tweeting Harry
It doesn't sound like she's happy about the arrangement either. | Good Morning Britain via YouTube
Samantha Grant isn't a stranger to speaking up (and out) about her royal half-sister. She's repeatedly told the media that Markle could and should have helped her family out in their times of need.
She's also tweeted to Prince Harry asking him to encourage her to talk to her family. According to Good Housekeeping, she says Harry "allows Meghan to ignore" the Markles.
Next: Grant's even writing a book about being Markle's half-sister.
4. Grant's book calls Markle 'pushy'
Will the memoir be flattering or not? | Jeremy Selwyn – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Grant is also planning on releasing a memoir titled The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister. She's been adamant in saying the book is meant to honor her half-sister, but we'll just have to wait and see for ourselves.
"The title is a mockery of the media," she told the Daily Mail. "It wasn't me who called Meg 'pushy.' It was the tabloid newspapers."
Next: Markle's father has a reputation of being a recluse.
5. Markle's father, Thomas Sr., is actually happy for her
He's happier than he looks here. | Inside Edition via YouTube
Those close to Markle and us following along at home were waiting on pins and needles to learn Thomas Sr.'s reaction to his daughter's royal engagement, because he's known as a bit of a recluse. Upon Markle's engagement, he and Markle's mother released a statement saying how happy they were for their daughter.
Sadly, he didn't end up attending the royal wedding though after struggling with health issues.
Next: Thomas Jr.'s ex-wife is happy for Markle and Harry.
6. Thomas Jr.'s ex-wife, Tracey Dooley, expressed happiness for Markle
They're supportive of the marriage. | Good Morning Britain via Twitter
Dooley and her son, Tyler, were interviewed on Good Morning Britain about Markle's engagement. Though she acknowledged that she knew she wouldn't be invited, she still expressed happiness for the new royal.
"I don't think we are going to get the invitations–and that's fine," said Dooley. "We're okay with that. We're still supporting her on. We're so proud of her."
Next: Prince Harry loves Markle's mom.
7. Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, is the closest to her and Harry
It would appear that they're very close. | Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images
Out of everyone in Markle's family, her mother seems to get along with the royals the best. She's very close with her mother, as she stayed with her when her parents got divorced when she was six. Though Ragland's pretty quiet when it comes to speaking to the media, she's been seen at a few events with Markle since the news broke.
Harry, particularly, is very fond of Ragland. "Her mum's amazing," he said during their first interview after the engagement.


MCLEAN, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 28, 2005 -- Parature, a leading provider of award winning, on demand customer support software, today recognizes ATI Technologies, (NASDAQ: ATYT), and ANGEL Learning as the winners of the 2005 Customer Centric Awards. The awards are presented to truly distinctive Parature customers for demonstrating excellence in applying on demand customer support solutions to achieve a high customer support satisfaction rating from their client base.
Parature put the power of evaluation in the hands of each nominated company's end users, surveying them to uncover their insights and satisfaction levels with the support they have received. The winners of the award exhibited the highest marks in areas from overall customer satisfaction to the innovative use of support technologies.
ATI Technologies, the global leader for discrete PC graphics, won the Customer Centric Award in the Large Organization category. ATI has implemented Parature's customer support solution worldwide to manage their call center, email and Web support channels for all of its 400 products. By providing these methods of support, ATI is achieving continuous measurable improvements in the quality, efficiency, and scalability of its customer service operations, and has seen an 80% reduction in call volumes from its global customer base of 4 million. ATI has achieved an astounding 99.6% customer support self-service rate with Parature. With over 50% of their clients able to solve their own issues in less then 20 minutes using the Support Portal, ATI's customers find their customer support solution "fast, accurate, and personalized" according to survey respondents.
ANGEL Learning, developer of easy-to-use and flexible enterprise e-learning software, won the Customer Centric Award in the Small-to-Midsize Organization category. ANGEL Learning has very effectively scaled to meet the support needs of its growing customer base using Parature's customer support solution. In this rapid growth environment, ANGEL Learning has been able to maintain its corporate support goal of responding to 75% of tickets within 2 hours and resolving 75% of tickets within 8 hours. More than 70% of ANGEL Learning customers rated support processes "excellent" identifying "ease of use, access to documentation, a knowledge base, FAQs, and the ticket system" as the most helpful features of the ANGEL support portal. Respondents also recognized the ANGEL support team for their "quality, determination, and willingness to help in any way they can."
"We congratulate and are pleased to honor ATI Technologies and ANGEL Learning as organizations that excel at using Parature's on demand customer support solutions to solve customer challenges while strengthening their relationships with their client bases," said Duke Chung, CEO at Parature. "We applaud their commitment to achieving success by not only creating maximum value for their own businesses, but more importantly, creating lasting value for their customers."
For case studies on how Parature customers are achieving high satisfaction ratings from their customers with Parature's support solutions, please visit http://www.parature.com/res_casestudies.aspx.
Parature, the leader of online support software, enables companies to improve their internal and external support, while reducing costs. Through its suite of modules, Parature allows companies to provide critical self servicing information on a 24x7 basis via the web, resulting in reduction of inbound support load and therefore reducing support costs. Continually growing, Parature serves industry leaders such as Hewlett Packard, Rothschild, and Florida State University. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Parature can be found on the Web at www.parature.com.
ANGEL Learning, Inc. develops and markets enterprise e-learning software. The company's flagship products are the ANGEL Learning Management Suite and the ANGEL ePortfolio system. Honed by use, ANGEL Learning products serve millions of students and instructors from K to corporate. The company enjoys a reputation for creating products with exceptional ease of use and excellent vision into learner progress. ANGEL emerged from academia, and the company's core values reflect those of its customers well. ANGEL world headquarters is in Indianapolis, Indiana. To learn more about the ANGEL difference, visit www.angellearning.com.


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The Spectrometer
Physics at Oregon State University
Main page for Physics at Oregon State
Category Archives: Research
Jihan Kim wins the 2018 Physics Department Graduate Research Award
Posted on February 28, 2019 by Heidi Schellman
Graduate Student Jihan Kim has won the 2018 Physics Department Graduate Research Award
Jihan Kim in the lab
Jihan Kim works with Prof. Bo Sun on biophysical problems. Jihan's research focuses on the mechanics of cancer-extra-cellular medium (ECM) interactions, which is one of the major factors dictating the physiology of tumors. This is a particularly fertile ground for interdisciplinary research, as physicists are trained to analyze forces in complex systems. Jihan takes advantage of his physics knowledge in understanding deep biological questions.
Jihan's first project is to measure the force exerted by cancer cells in 3D collagen matrices, which simulate a realistic tissue environment. He quickly learned MATLAB programing, and wrote a sophisticated image analysis algorithm to enhance images, and to determine the 3D deformation field caused by cancer cells. After publishing his first paper in PLoS ONE, Jihan noticed that a pair of cancer cells can permanently remodel a collagen matrix by creating a bundle of concentrated collagen fibers between them. He talked to a friend during the APS meeting about the observation, which eventually evolved into a collaborative project published in Nature Communications.
Having studied the forces generated by cancer cells and how these forces modify the cells' environment, Jihan is working on his latest project. In this project, he studies how the environment direct cancer migration. Once completed, his PhD thesis will have a completed loop indicating the feedback between cancer cells and their physical environment.
Posted in Awards, Graduate Students, Research.
Prof. Ethan Minot receives the 2018 Milton Harris Award in Basic Research
A belated post from last Fall:
Ethan Minot, associate professor of physics, received the Milton Harris Award in Basic Research for his impressive accomplishments as a scientist. At Oregon State, Minot has built a world-class materials physics laboratory for the study of the structure and properties of carbon nanomaterials and devices for nanoelectronics.
Ethan Minot (center) receiving the award with Prof. Janet Tate (left) and Dean Roy Haggerty (right).
His research at Oregon State has pushed the limit of fundamental properties of nanoelectronic devices, which have a broad range of applications to biosensing and solar energy harvesting. Some of his achievements are: identifying the fundamental noise mechanism that limits the performance of graphene biosensors in liquid environments; becoming the first to electrically generate and detect single point defects; reaching a new level of control over point defect chemistry; and other pioneering advances in the development of high-quality nanodevices and biosensors.
Reposted from http://impact.oregonstate.edu/2018/10/recognizing-research-and-administrative-excellence/
Scanning electron micrograph of a carbon nanotube (white filament) connecting metal electrodes (shaded yellow).
Posted in Awards, Faculty, Research.
Student Profile: A senior's gut decision in high school to major in physics holds steady four years later
Posted on August 14, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Reposted from impact.science.oregonstate.edu
A senior's gut decision in high school to major in physics holds steady four years later
Looking back on his gut decision in high school to major in physics after taking a class in it, graduating senior Abe Teklu remains somewhat mystified. "I guess I was just really confident," he laughs.
Abe grew up around numbers and changing locations, moving from Ethiopia to Arizona at age six when his father got an engineering job at Intel, and then moving to Colorado before his family settled outside of Portland when he was 12.
His family is mathematically inclined. His mom is an accountant and his dad, who not so secretly yearned to be a mathematician, is an engineer who reads calculus books and earned a master's degree in fluid dynamics. This home field advantage explains some of Abe's youthful confidence (he "loved math" even as a child) but since then Abe has carried the ball all on his own.
At Oregon State as an Honors physics student, Abe has remained confident – at least most of the time – as well as comfortable with numbers and shifting contexts. He has had three research internships. The first was the summer after his sophomore year when he had a paid internship at Northwestern University's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) in Evanston, Illinois, in a rather niche but fascinating area of speculative research called astrobiology. There Abe analyzed mathematical models of theoretical predator-prey systems not limited to planet Earth.
The summer before his junior year, Abe headed down to San Diego for another paid internship, this time at the U.S. Department of Energy's DIII-D National Fusion Facility. The facilty consists of a tokamak, a magnetic fusion device which Abe describes as "a big metal donut spinning plasma to get fusion energy." Abe used magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory to model plasma confinement, with the goal of understanding which conditions better spread heat flux in the divertor region.
In his third research experience, Abe spent more than two years working in physics department head Heidi Schellman's Particle Physics Research Group, analyzing neutrino-antineutrino data as part of the MINERvA, a major international research effort exploring matter-antimatter differences in neutrino physics. This involved aiming a beam of neutrinos from Illinois to South Dakota. Specifically, Abe worked on the recoil energies recorded when the rare neutrino-antineutrino reactions hit parallel strips of the scintillator, each of which is connected to a photomultiplier tube that determines how much energy is deposited in a strip.
Abe's research experiences beyond the classroom gave him many advantages. For one, the DIII-D fusion internship formed the basis for his senior thesis. He also learned valuable lessons about the nature of scientific work.
"Unlike class, where there is always an answer, research is open-ended. It was difficult for me at first, but I came to appreciate that even if you don't solve a problem, you are contributing to a much larger research effort with scientists around the world that will one day lead to a solution."
Throughout his four years at OSU, community and relationships were key to Abe's success, a sentiment reflected in his two top pieces of advice for new students.
"Have as much fun as you can freshman year. Talk toeveryone. You will have the most free time this year and so it's a great time to meet new people and make friends. It gets harder after that."
As an Honors College freshman, Abe enjoyed meeting friends in his dorm, Cauthorne, and also hung out in West so often that he was mistaken as a resident. He was and is "surprised by the amount of really smart people here. So many amazing people – and it's so cool now to see all of my friends going off to exciting new destinations next year, from MIT to Brown to AI research!"
His second piece of advice?
"Talk to professors. Go to office hours. Not just to talk about academics, but just to talk about life. It's helped me out a lot."
Some of his favorite professors to hang out with are physicists Corinne Monogue, who he calls a "great teacher and person to talk to about anything at all" and Heidi Schellman. Abe suggests another good reason to talk with professors: It's a "great way to start research sooner."
To wit, when Abe visited to Schellman during her office hours, she began describing her research and Abe just jumped in and asked if he could help.
"That day she gave me a key to her lab and I started doing research!" Two years later, Abe still has a coveted seat in Schellman's Lab and is currently mentoring a new student to take his place after graduation.
Despite his success at OSU, Abe has faced his share of rejection and challenging times. Before joining the Schellman Lab, he was turned down as a freshman for research positions. The fall of his senior year was a really difficult time. After an intense summer working at the fusion facility DIII-D in San Diego, he returned to campus for a nonstop term which on top of his usual demanding coursework included studying for the Physics GRE, applying to graduate schools, writing his senior thesis and dealing with the inevitable "personal stuff."
"I was overwhelmed and my confidence was shaken. Was I good enough? I had imposter syndrome. The only thing that got me out of it," Abe reflects, "was just to endure. I just kept going step by step, every single day. I had to keep going and I did and it finally got better."
It certainly did. Abe was accepted into the physics Ph.D. program at Stonybrook University in Long Island, New York, remarking with great enthusiasm upon the fact that there are no less than "60-70 physics researchers there!" Not wasting any time, he will jumpstart his graduate research this summer at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, working on a yet-to-be-defined research project with his graduate advisor.
Abe is grateful for the science education he has received at Oregon State and was not surprised when he heard that the Department of Physics recently received a national award for improving undergraduate physics education.
"All of my professors were great," he said. The junior-year Paradigms in Physics series in particular, which was redesigned to include interactive pedagogies and real-world applications to better reflect how professional physicists think, was a real game-changer for Abe.
"[The junior-year Paradigms in Physics] was hard, but it was great and everyone in the class bonded together. We came out feeling that we could do anything!"
Abe's gratitude extends to the many scholarships he received that helped cement his choice to go to Oregon State. He received the university's four-year Academic Achievement award as well as a freshman year Honors College scholarship, a Kenneth S. Krane Scholarship in Physics and a David B. Nicodemus Scholarship in Physics.
Posted in Alumni, Research, Students, Teaching and Learning, Uncategorized, undergrad_research, Undergraduates.
Bee-ophysics in the news – Ostroverkhova lab studies bee visual response
Posted on August 8, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
The Ostroverkhova group's work on bee vision had attracted a lot of attention!
Ostroverkhova et al examined responses of wild bees to traps designed to selectively stimulate either the blue or the green photoreceptor using sunlight-induced fluorescence in the 420-480 nm or 510-540 nm region. Image credit: Rebekka D.
KATU has an interview with Oksana Ostroverkhova at: https://katu.com/news/local/wild-bees-are-attracted-to-blue-fluorescent-light-oregon-state-university-research-finds
Sci-news has an article http://www.sci-news.com/biology/bees-blue-fluorescent-light-06121.html
and there is a press release to go with their recent paper in Journal of Comparative Physiology A. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00359-018-1269-x
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have learned that a specific wavelength range of blue fluorescent light set bees abuzz.
The research is important because bees have a nearly $15 billion dollar impact on the U.S. economy – almost 100 commercial crops would vanish without bees to transfer the pollen grains needed for reproduction.
"The blue fluorescence just triggered a crazy response in the bees, told them they must go to it," said the study's corresponding author, Oksana Ostroverkhova. "It's not just their vision, it's something behavioral that drives them."
The findings are a powerful tool for assessing and manipulating bee populations – such as, for example, if a farmer needed to attract large numbers of bees for a couple of weeks to get his or her crop pollinated.
"Blue is broad enough wavelength-wise that we needed to figure out if it mattered to the bees if the light emitted by the sunlight-illuminated trap was more toward the purple end or the green end, and yes, it mattered," Ostroverkhova said. "What's also important is now we've created traps ourselves using stage lighting filters and fluorescent paint – we're not just reliant on whatever traps come in a box. We've learned how to use commercially available materials to create something that's very deployable."
Fluorescent light is what's seen when a fluorescent substance absorbs ultraviolet rays or some other type of lower-wavelength radiation and then immediately emits it as higher-wavelength visible light – think about a poster whose ink glows when hit by the UV rays of a blacklight.
Like humans, bees have "trichromatic" vision: They have three types of photoreceptors in their eyes.
Both people and bees have blue and green receptors, but the third type for people is red while the third kind for bees is ultraviolet – electromagnetic energy of a lower wavelength that's just outside the range of human vision.
Flowers' vibrant colors and patterns – some of them detectable only with UV sight – are a way of helping pollinators like bees find nectar, a sugar-rich fluid produced by plants. Bees get energy from nectar and protein from pollen, and in the process of seeking food they transfer pollen from a flower's male anther to its female stigma.
Building on her earlier research, Ostroverkhova, a physicist in OSU's College of Science, set out to determine if green fluorescence, like blue, was attractive to bees. She also wanted to learn whether all wavelengths of blue fluorescence were equally attractive, or if the drawing power tended toward the green or violet edge of the blue range.
In field conditions that provided the opportunity to use wild bees of a variety of species – most bee-vision studies have been done in labs and used captive-reared honeybees – Ostroverkhova designed a collection of bee traps – some non-fluorescent, others fluorescent via sunlight – that her entomology collaborators set up in the field.
Under varying conditions with a diverse set of landscape background colors, blue fluorescent traps proved the most popular by a landslide.
Researchers examined responses to traps designed to selectively stimulate either the blue or the green photoreceptor using sunlight-induced fluorescence with wavelengths of 420 to 480 nanometers and 510 to 540 nanometers, respectively.
They found out that selective excitation of the green photoreceptor type was not attractive, in contrast to that of the blue.
"And when we selectively highlighted the blue photoreceptor type, we learned the bees preferred blue fluorescence in the 430- to 480-nanometer range over that in the 400-420 region," Ostroverkhova said.
Findings were recently published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A. The Agricultural Research Foundation and OSU supported this research.
Editor's note: Images are available at http://bit.ly/2JO7ypl and http://bit.ly/2MA4080
Posted in Faculty, Papers, Research, Uncategorized.
OSU press release: Fungi-produced pigment shows promise as semiconductor material
Posted on June 24, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
The Ostraverkhova group's work on xylindein, an organic semiconductor produced naturally by fungi, has been featured in a press release.
http://today.oregonstate.edu/news/fungi-produced-pigment-shows-promise-semiconductor-material
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University are looking at a highly durable organic pigment, used by humans in artwork for hundreds of years, as a promising possibility as a semiconductor material.
Findings suggest it could become a sustainable, low-cost, easily fabricated alternative to silicon in electronic or optoelectronic applications where the high-performance capabilities of silicon aren't required.
Optoelectronics is technology working with the combined use of light and electronics, such as solar cells, and the pigment being studied is xylindein.
"Xylindein is pretty, but can it also be useful? How much can we squeeze out of it?" said Oregon State University physicist Oksana Ostroverkhova. "It functions as an electronic material but not a great one, but there's optimism we can make it better."
Xylindien is secreted by two wood-eating fungi in the Chlorociboria genus. Any wood that's infected by the fungi is stained a blue-green color, and artisans have prized xylindein-affected wood for centuries.
The pigment is so stable that decorative products made half a millennium ago still exhibit its distinctive hue. It holds up against prolonged exposure to heat, ultraviolet light and electrical stress.
"If we can learn the secret for why those fungi-produced pigments are so stable, we could solve a problem that exists with organic electronics," Ostroverkhova said. "Also, many organic electronic materials are too expensive to produce, so we're looking to do something inexpensively in an ecologically friendly way that's good for the economy."
With current fabrication techniques, xylindein tends to form non-uniform films with a porous, irregular, "rocky" structure.
"There's a lot of performance variation," she said. "You can tinker with it in the lab, but you can't really make a technologically relevant device out of it on a large scale. But we found a way to make it more easily processed and to get a decent film quality."
Ostroverkhova and collaborators in OSU's colleges of Science and Forestry blended xylindein with a transparent, non-conductive polymer, poly(methyl methacrylate), abbreviated to PMMA and sometimes known as acrylic glass. They drop-cast solutions both of pristine xylindein and a xlyindein-PMMA blend onto electrodes on a glass substrate for testing.
They found the non-conducting polymer greatly improved the film structure without a detrimental effect on xylindein's electrical properties. And the blended films actually showed better photosensitivity.
"Exactly why that happened, and its potential value in solar cells, is something we'll be investigating in future research," Ostroverkhova said. "We'll also look into replacing the polymer with a natural product – something sustainable made from cellulose. We could grow the pigment from the cellulose and be able to make a device that's all ready to go.
"Xylindein will never beat silicon, but for many applications, it doesn't need to beat silicon," she said. "It could work well for depositing onto large, flexible substrates, like for making wearable electronics."
This research, whose findings were recently published in MRS Advances, represents the first use of a fungus-produced material in a thin-film electrical device.
"And there are a lot more of the materials," Ostroverkhova said. "This is just first one we've explored. It could be the beginning of a whole new class of organic electronic materials."
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
About the OSU College of Science: As one of the largest academic units at OSU, the College of Science has seven departments and 12 pre-professional programs. It provides the basic science courses essential to the education of every OSU student, builds future leaders in science, and its faculty are international leaders in scientific research.
Posted in Faculty, Research.
Paper Summaries: Simultaneous fluorescence and surface charge measurements on organic semiconductor-coated silica microspheres
Posted on June 6, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Rebecca Grollman, Graham Founds, Rick Wallace and Oksana Ostroverkhova's paper "Simultaneous fluorescence and surface charge measurements on organic semiconductor-coated silica microspheres" has been featured by Advances in Engineering as a key scientific article contributing to excellence in science and engineering research. See
https://advanceseng.com/simultaneous-fluorescence-surface-charge-measurements/
for a short summary of the paper and a short video highlighting the result.
Posted in Alumni, Faculty, Graduate Students, Papers, Research, undergrad_research.
Paper Summaries – To beam or not to beam: OSU research shows sign of a misaligned jet in the gravitational wave source GW170817
Posted on May 20, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Model predictions for flux vs time(solid lines) compared to observations (symbols).
GW170817, detected on August 17, 2017, was the first multi-messenger astronomical source, seen in gravitational waves and across the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Much of the physics of this source has been understood thanks to the high quality data collected for months after the initial detection. We now know that it was due to the collision between two neutron stars, a class of very massive and compact stars that were in orbit around each other and eventually merged forming a black hole. During the collision material was flung out in all directions. Most of the material was sent in the equatorial direction, where new atoms – such as gold and platinum – were formed through rapid neutron capture. Some material was sent in the polar direction, but exactly how much and with what energy is not known, since our observing geometry is far from the polar axis. For that reason, it had been impossible to ascertain whether a short gamma-ray burst also took place with the star collision.
Short gamma-ray bursts are some of the brightest explosions recorded in present day universe. They are produced when extremely fast outflows are sent in our direction by leftover material that accretes onto a newly formed black hole. Scientists believe they should be caused by a neutron star collision, but direct evidence is not yet available. When we detect the burst directly, it is so bright that outshines all the signs of the neutron star collision. Groundbreaking research performed by the astrophysics group led by Dr. Lazzati and accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters, however, has shown that the unusual increase of the luminosity of GW170817 over time is a sign that a short GRB did happen right after the merger, albeit along a different direction. The figure displays the model predictions (solid lines) along with the observations (symbols), showing the excellent agreement of the model with the data.
Posted in Faculty, Papers, Research.
Yunker Lecture this week – Laura Greene at 5PM on Friday the 20th
Posted on April 16, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Just a reminder that our annual Yunker Lecture is this Friday the 20th.
Laura Greene (center) in her natural habitat
330 PM in Weniger 328 is a reception/poster show
500 PM in Weniger 151 is the lecture by Prof. Laura Green, Chief Scientist at the National Magnetic Field Laboratory and past president of the American Physical Society.
http://impact.oregonstate.edu/2018/04/yunker-lecture-explores-dark-energy-quantum-materials/ has a longer description. One correction is that the reception is now in Weniger 328 instead of 379.
Posted in Awards, Outreach, Research.
Prof. Janet Tate is one of three OSU Distinguished Professors!
Posted on April 6, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Prof. Janet Tate has been named one of three Oregon State University's 2018 Distinguished Professor honorees for 2018
Janet Tate setting up her superconducting demonstration.
The university has presented the Distinguished Professor award annually since 1988 to active OSU faculty members who have achieved extraordinary national and/or international stature for their contributions in research and creative work, education, outreach and engagement, and service.
Professor Tate's research focuses on creating new semiconductors with transparent circuits with electrical and optical properties that help solve problems such as the efficient conversion of solar energy and efficient light emission. Her research stimulated the invention of the transparent oxide transistor, the enabling technology for the Retina 5K display now found in many Apple products. Tate's contributions in the classroom earned her the Frederick H. Horne Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching Science in 2002 and two OSU Mortar Board top professor awards.
For more information regarding the 2018 Distinguished Professors, please visit the OSU news release on the award recipients here.
Posted in Awards, Faculty, Outreach, Research, Teaching and Learning.
Prof. Weihong Qiu's work on molecular motors published in Nature Communications
Posted on March 16, 2018 by Heidi Schellman
Molecular motor mystery solved: Novel protein rounds out plant cells' machinery
A research team led by Prof. Weihong Qiu and collaborators from University of California, Davis has discovered a novel motor protein that significantly expands current understanding of the evolution and design principle of motor proteins.
White arrowheads indicate the microtubule plus end, and red and yellow arrowheads indicate the leading ends of two different actin filaments.
The findings of the research team, led by of the OSU College of Science and Bo Liu of UC Davis, were published today in Nature Communications.
Read the full OSU announcement at: http://today.oregonstate.edu/news/molecular-motor-mystery-solved-novel-protein-rounds-out-plant-cells%E2%80%99-machinery
Posted in Faculty, Research, Uncategorized.
Brandon Brown publishes "The Apollo Chronicles"
OSU Physics students participate in CUWiP 2019
Okan Agirseven receives Graduate Student Travel Award!
Weimin Han is recognized as an Intel Fellow
In Memorium: Elaine Yunker Whiteley
Eliza Tyas on Two Physics Students Win URISC Awards
Andy Barrette on Atul Chhotray is Awarded the 2017 OSU Physics Graduate Research Award
yahdi siradj on Bo Sun's work on intercellular communication is making news!
yahdi siradj on New Postdoc – Mateus Carneiro
Dawn Moser on OSU Hosts Women in Physics Conference
Diversity in Physics
Learning Assistants
Society of Physics Students
undergrad_research
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Copyright ©Will Jivcoff Photography All rights reserved.
Buntkicktgut is a German non-profit organization that teaches interaction through street football to youth, adolescents and adults from various cultural, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
The concept of unity through sport is simple - on the field, it comes down to skill. Race, cultural identity or preconception of a person's being are put to the wayside. This opens the door for relationships and communication that may have never happened before.
Buntkicktgut exists in many cities across Germany and each neighbourhood has their own club. For this ongoing project, I've teamed up with the Neukölln club in Berlin – my local – to create images not just for them, but for the sheer excitement of the players too.


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text:
Research Content
Understanding substantive and theoretical issues in long-term care
The Institutional Environment of Long-Term Care
Principles for Sustainable Resourcing of Long-Term Care
Social Finance Toolbox
Common vocabulary public consultation
Books & Papers in Journals
Innovative Investment
in Long-Term Care
SPRINT Final Event, 30 October 2018
The conference on "Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care. Theory, challenges and applications" took place on the 30th of October 2018, at the European Parliament, in Brussels.
The EU faces a major challenge: How can it deliver the new social right to affordable long-term care of good quality as its working-age population shrinks and the share of those of retirement age expands? Long-term care is a long-term issue: Eurostat projects that by 2080 those aged 65 and older will account for 29.1% of the population (compared with 19.2% now) and the share of those aged 80 and older will more than double (from 5.4% to 12.7%).
Social investment has been a strategic policy response to new social risks. What does this approach have to offer for tackling this challenge?
At this event SPRINT partners, together with policy-makers, other leading researchers, and social investment specialists explored the application of the concept of social investment to the challenge of long-term care provision and discussed:
Innovative approaches to social finance
The following conference summary report provides the reader with the main messages of the speakers as well the policy lessons and responses based on the discussions in the relevant panel. SPRINT Conference Summary Report
Mr Miltiadis Kyrkos, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Ms Ana Carla Pereira, Head of Unit C.2 – Modernisation of social protection systems in the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission, Long-term care in the EU
Dr Alan Glanz, SPRINT Project Manager, London School of Economics and Political Science SPRINT project research outcomes
Mr Bart Vanhercke, Director & Dr Slavina Spasova, Researcher at the European Social Observatory – Social investment and national policies on long-term care in Europe
Dr Virginija Poskute, Professor at ISM University of Management and Economics – Social Investment in LTC – Stakeholders' Perspective
Dr Claudia Zilli, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Milan – INNOVAcARE study: Enhancing innovation in elderly care
Dr Ismo Linnosmaa, Senior Researcher Institute for Health & Welfare, Finland – Tools for social investment in long-term care
Mr Ben Jupp, Director Social Finance UK – Social Investment in practice
Dr Jose-Luis Fernandez, Deputy Director at PSSRU, London School of Economics and Political Science – Considerations for investment policy decisions
Dr. Platon Tinios, Assistant Professor at the University of Piraeus – Policy messages from SPRINT
Panel Discussion – Future directions for long-term care and social investment, including:
Mr Borja Arrue, Project and Policy Officer, Age Platform Europe
Prof. Piotr Szukalski, Member of the Council of Senioral Policy of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Poland
Mr Stacy Yghemonos, Executive Director Eurocarers
Dr Claudia Zilli | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Dr. Spasova - Mr. Vanhrecke | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Dr Jose-Luis Fernandez | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care | Sprint-project
Mr Stecy Yghemonos | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care | Sprint-project
Ms Ana Carla Pereira | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Dr. Platon Tinios | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Mr Miltiadis Kyrkos | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Prof. Piotr Szukalski | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Mr Borja Arrue | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Dr Virginija Poskute | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Mr Ben Jupp | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Dr. Ismo Linnosmaa | Social investment in affordable and quality long-term care
Mr Miltiadis Kyrkos
Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Ms Ana Carla Pereira
Head of Unit C.2 - Modernisation of social protection systems in the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Dr Alan Glanz
SPRINT Project Manager, London School of Economics and Political Science
Mr Bart Vanhercke
Director European Soacial Observatory
Dr Slavina Spasova
Researcher European Social Observatory
Dr Virginija Poskute
Professor at ISM University of Management and Economics
Dr Claudia Zilli
Researcher at the University of Milan
Dr Ismo Linnosmaa
Senior Researcher Institute for Health & Welfare, Finland
Mr Ben Jupp
Director Social Finance UK
Dr Jose-Luis Fernandez
Deputy Director PSSRU, London School of Economics and Political Science
Dr Platon Tinios
Assistant Professor Univrsity of Piraeus
Mr Borja Arrue
Project and Policy Officer, Age Platform Europe
Prof. Piotr Szukalski
Member of the Council of Senioral Policy of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Poland
Mr Stecy Yghemonos
Excutive Director Eurocarers
Miltos Kyrkos was born in Athens in 1959. He has an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Asachi Polytechnic of Iasi, Romania. He has worked as chemical engineer at the National Technical University of Athens and in the industry sector. From 1992 and for more than 20 years he worked in the tabletop gaming industry. Between 2000 and 2009, he was production and content manager on educational applications (for banks, museums and foundations). Until 2014, he worked on the design and implementation of such applications for the Hellenic Parliament, the Youth Parliament and the Greek
Council for Refugees.
From 2004 to 2014 he was assistant at the University's Training Program for Thrace's Muslim Children on computer supported education and the use of games in the educational process. From 2011-2014, he was scientific associate for a Member of the European Parliament. On 2014, he was elected Member of the European Parliament with the "To Potami" party.
Ana Carla Pereira is Head of Unit for "Modernisation of social protection systems" in Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission.
She is responsible for social protection policies related to access and adequacy of pensions, long-term care and health. She is currently coordinating the work around the initiative "access to social protection", one of the concrete deliverables of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Prior to this, she was responsible for skills and qualifications policies, including the New Skills Agenda for Europe. She also worked for more than ten years on the implementation of European Employment Strategy and several years in the private sector as a business consultant specialized in human performance. She graduated from Economics at University of Coimbra (PT) and holds an MA in European Human Resources Studies from the College of Europe (BE). Her mother tongue is Portuguese and she is fluent in English, French and Italian.
Dr Alan Glanz is the project manager of the SPRINT Project. He has worked for over 21 years as Senior Research Liaison Officer within the Research and Development Directorate at the UK Department of Health (DH), project managing a large portfolio of DH-funded research contracts with universities and academics and acting as coordinator between external research teams and internal customers. Prior to this, he held a number of positions in the health field (Senior Research Officer/Operations Manager, Health Education Authority; Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London; Evaluation Officer, Turning Point (Voluntary Sector); Research Officer, Birkbeck College, University of London).
Bart Vanhercke, PhD in Social Science (University of Amsterdam, 2016), has been the OSE Director since 2010. His current research focuses on the social dimension of the EU's economic governance and the European Pillar of Social Rights, topics on which he also works as an Associate Academic Staff member at the Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA), KULeuven.
He became Policy Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labour (Berlin) in 2015. He has co-authored several studies for the European Social Policy Network (ESPN), for which he is Social Protection leader. His earlier research focused on the Europeanization of social policies.
Slavina Spasova, PhD in Political Science, has been a researcher in the area of social protection at the OSE since January 2016, and is a Research Associate at the Centre d'étude de la vie politique (CEVIPOL), Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Her research agenda focuses on various social protection and employment related subjects, including systemic pension reforms in Central and Eastern European countries, labour market reforms and social dialogue. She worked on a variety of issues – including, work-life balance, long-term care, social protection for non-standard workers and the self-employed etc. She was the lead researcher for the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) input to the European Commission's 2018 Pensions Adequacy Report.
Virginija Poškutė is an economist and social policy analyst currently working for ISM University of Management and Economics in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Virginija has extensive international job experience (UNDP/Lithuania; International Master's Programme "European Social Policy Analysis" by CEPS/INSTEAD, Luxembourg and Leuven University, Belgium). Has participated in various international projects for the World Bank, UN, UNDP, UNICEF, European Commission) as well as national projects on economic and social issues for the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Economics and various NGOs. Has extensive teaching experience in Lithuania and abroad (USA, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, The Netherlands, Estonia, etc.).
Claudia Zilli works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Milan for the project Innovacare. Enhancing Social Innovation in Elderly Care: values, practices and policies, a research dedicated to the study of the challenges related to the aging of Italian society and to the identification of innovative Long Term Care solutions. Within this project, Claudia mainly focuses on the link between LTC and international migration from a sociological perspective, analysing the needs, expectations and difficulties of what is called "The Care Triangle": care (foreign) workers, care managers (elders' relatives) and care receivers (not self-sufficient elders).
In 2015 she obtained the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sociology from the University of Milan in Italy after discussing a thesis on the negotiation practices of intercultural/international mixed marriages and "new world families"; whereas in 2008 she successfully concluded a two years Research Master (MSc) from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, specializing in applied social research methods on topics of Migration, Ethnic Relations and Multiculturalism (M.E.R.M). Claudia's research interests lie within the study of international migration and care/domestic work; intercultural negotiations within multiethnic/transnational families; and parenting/caring practices beyond borders.
Dr. Ismo Linnosmaa, Professor in Health and Social Economics at the University of Eastern Finland and Research professor at National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland. He holds a PhD in economics from Department of Economics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. In his research activities, Linnosmaa has specialized in the economics of health and social care and pharmaceutical markets. His most recent research has focused on the cost-effectiveness and quality of long-term care for elderly. Linnosmaa has gained substantial experience managing large national and multinational research projects in health and social economics and pharmaceutical markets. He has also participated in appraisals on the economic effects of law reforms in health and social care in Finland.
Ben Jupp is a Director at Social Finance. He leads Social Finance's work on investment in health and social care, as well as supporting commissioners develop their full range of services. Prior to joining Social Finance in 2011, Ben was Director of Public Services Strategy at the Cabinet Office. In that role Ben led work across Government to improve public services, such as through developing more personalised health and education services and shifting more transactional services on-line. In the civil service, he has also been Director of the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, responsible for policy and support for the voluntary and community sector and social enterprises, and head of strategy at the Home Office. Ben started off his career working in the NHS. He also led welfare and health policy at a think tank and, in a voluntary capacity, helped develop a number of community projects.
Jose Luis Fernandez is Deputy Director and Associate Professorial Research Fellow at PSSRU, London School of Economics and Political Science. A health and social care economist, he specialises in ageing-related policies, the interaction between health and social care, and the economic evaluation of health and social care services and systems.
In 2010, he co-founded the International Long-term care Policy Network (ILPN) linking academics and policy makers on the analysis of long-term care, and also set-up the Economics of Social and Health Care Research Unit together with the universities of Kent and York, and the Quality and Outcomes Research Unit with universities of Kent and Oxford. He has advised bodies such as the English Department of Health, the UK Treasury and the World Health Organisation.
Platon Tinios, is an economist, assistant professor at the University of Piraeus. He was educated in Egypt, Greece and the UK. He studied economics at the Universities of Cambridge (MA, Ph.D) and Oxford (M.Phil). He served as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece from 1996 to 2004, specializing in the economic analysis of social policy and pensions. He was a member of the EU Social Protection Committee from 2000 to 2004. He has participated in IMF Technical Assistance missions in the areas of social expenditure and pensions. In 2015/6 he was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics. His research interests include pensions, ageing, social policy, gender, economics of insurance and public finance. He has written numerous books and journal articles in English and in Greek.
Borja Arrue Astrain is Policy and Project Officer at AGE Platform Europe, the European network of organisations of older persons.
He gained experience in social policy at the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission.
Currently, he is responsible for AGE's advocacy work around access to quality long-term care and the prevention of elder abuse, and as such coordinates AGE's task force on Dignified Ageing. He has been part of AGE's delegation to the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, which discusses the enjoyment of human rights by older persons worldwide.
Piotr Szukalski obtained his Ph.D in economics at the University of Lodz, where he works as associate professor in its Chair of Applied Sociology and Social Work. He is member of Committee on Demographic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Committee on Forecasting, Polish Academy of Sciences. He is also member of the National Council for Development at the President of the Republic of Poland, the Governmental Council for Population Policy at the Polish Prime Minister, and the Council for Senior Policy at the Polish Minister of Family, Labour, and Social Policy. He has published over 250 articles and chapters related to social gerontology, demography, intergenerational relations and family issues.
His research interests are in family care-giving, older adults activities, economicactivity of the elderly, ageism, intergenerational relations, regional demography.
Stecy Yghemonos is the Executive Director of Eurocarers, the European association working for carers. A trained journalist, Stecy is an EU policy and communication specialist. Over the last fifteen years he has acted as a Project, Advocacy and Communications Director in organisations promoting and defending the reinforcement and harmonisation of domestic and foreign EU policies in the fields of press freedom, social justice, children's rights, development, health, education and vocational training. Together with the Eurocarers Steering Committee he sets the direction of the Eurocarers network, develops and oversees the implementation of the action plan. He is also responsible for the Eurocarers secretariat in Brussels as well as for its activities in the fields of network development, project management, fund raising, policy influencing, advocacy and communications.
The SPRINT Project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 649565
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• Tunch Ilkin always joked that if he ever wrote a book, it would be titled, "Too Late for the Super Bowls; Too Early for the Money," in a reference to a playing career that began in 1980, which was the season following the Steelers' fourth Super Bowl win of the 1970s, and ended in 1993, which was the first year of free agency tied to a salary cap in the NFL.
• Ilkin actually did write a book, but it's titled, "In the Locker Room: Tales of the Pittsburgh Steelers from the Playing Field to the Broadcast Booth." It was done in conjunction with Scott Brown, once a newspaper reporter and now an author of seven books, and it's very much a reflection of Ilkin and the things and people most important to him.
• And that's the crux of Ilkin's book, because the recurring theme of the next 236 pages has to do with relationships over the course of a 40-year love affair with the sport of football. Relationships with everyone from Chuck Noll to Dan Rooney to his best friend Craig Wolfley to Myron Cope. And many others in between.
• It's fitting that the book begins with a chapter on Chuck Noll, because outside of his father, Mehmet, no man came close to influencing Ilkin's life more than Noll.
• That chapter continues with a series of quick anecdotes about Noll – the time Ilkin punched him in the mouth (accidentally), the time he socialized with him over beer and pizza (briefly), and the time he and his wife ran into Noll and his wife at an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood where they both lived (uncomfortably).
• This is what the whole book is. It's like a conversation with Ilkin in a casual social setting, even though he's the one doing all of the talking and the bulk of the subject matter has to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL, with a sprinkling of his personal life thrown in to complete the picture.
• There is a chapter titled, "Lessons from the 1970s Steelers," and it includes anecdotes or remembrances of all of the main characters – among them Joe Greene, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, Terry Bradshaw, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Rocky Bleier, Andy Russell, L.C. Greenwood, and Donnie Shell – and then the chapter concludes with some of the guys who would be remembered more as being Ilkin's peers of the 1980s – Bryan Hinkle, Greg Lloyd, David Little, Frank Pollard, and Keith Willis.
• Some of the bits about those guys are humorous, some highlight the qualities that made them special players and people, and some simply portray them as everyday guys living normal lives. It's a nice mixture, and it's a reflection of how Ilkin viewed his relationship with each individual.
• There is a chapter on Mike Tomlin that shows a side of the Steelers' current head coach few know anything about, from his practice demeanor to his off-field commitment to helping his players become better men, better fathers, better mentors, and how Mike Tomlin is very much like Chuck Noll.
• There are several chapters that detail the Ilkin family emigrating from Turkey and all of the challenges associated with that, and he also tells the story of a somewhat unlikely athletic career that culminated with him being the Steelers' sixth-round pick of the 1980 NFL Draft.
• Another of the highlights of "In the Locker Room" are the stories of Ilkin's introduction as the third man on the Steelers Radio Network's game broadcast crew, and what makes these stories so enjoyable is the fact the other two guys in the booth at the time were Bill Hillgrove and Myron Cope.
• There's another aspect of Ilkin's book that makes it unique: Craig Wolfley long has been Tunch's best friend, and they have shared many life experiences with one another. Throughout the book, there will be periodic breaks in the various chapters with segments titled, "Wolf's Words," in which Wolfley's perspective on a particular event or person or shared experience is presented, and it's completely told from his point of view/remembrance. That "Wolf's Words" don't always line up perfectly with Ilkin's prose makes it an accurate reflection of the dynamic between the two when they're together, which is almost always.
• Again, "In the Locker Room " is very much like shooting the breeze with Tunch over a beverage or two – it's informative, funny, just a pleasant way to pass the time, and as such makes a nice gift for that Steelers fan on your holiday shopping list. The book is available on shop.steelers.com, which can be accessed via Steelers.com, and it also can be purchased at any of the team's Official Sideline Stores.
"(Mike) Pereira and fellow former NFL head of officials Dean Blandino said on Fox Sports that the crew (working the Steelers-Chargers game) could have awarded the Chargers the points even without the ball going through the uprights because of an obscure league rule prohibiting teams from repeatedly committing deliberate fouls to prevent a score.
• "Blandino said he would have invoked the rule.
• The arrogance of these guys, even the retired ones, makes my head hurt. Blandino was bloviating about the final three plays of last Sunday night's game between the Steelers and the Chargers. The basis of his analysis of the situation was that the Steelers deliberately committed penalties on three successive field goal attempts by the Chargers, even though that wasn't the case.
• Maniacal video watcher Tunch Ilkin said he did a frame-by-frame analysis, and he swears Joe Haden was not offside on the first attempt, which was wide left, and that Artie Burns was not offside on the second attempt, which he blocked, and that the officials reacted to movement by Sean Davis but that Davis was off the line of scrimmage at the time. Also at issue is the fact the Chargers long-snapper very likely was executing illegal snaps, not only on those three field goal attempts, but on every placement kick throughout the game.
• So, Dean, if rules are to be invoked, why wasn't this one? Asking for a friend.
• I understand the code players and coaches live by, the one that says games never are decided by officials' calls because officials' calls are only something that must be overcome on the way to victory. A good teaching point for young people, but this is professional football where everybody is getting paid to do a job, and there are supposed to be consequences for those who don't/can't.
• In pro sports, overlooking the impact of bad officiating on the outcome of a game enables it to continue without criticism and without repercussions. And when that happens, change doesn't.


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Q: Disabling Adobe Flash in enterprise environment The vulnerabilities even in patched Adobe Flash are getting out of hand and we have been wondering of disabling it for the time being. Very few services actually require flash nowadays, so having it disabled by default wont propably have huge impact. The question is, how to actually do that. Users have IE, Firefox and Chrome and each of those has a different way to manually disable flash. What im looking for is a way/script/setting/GPO that could be ran on every computer which would disable flash on them. But so far, I havent found anything useful.
Is this possible? Browsers arent very good with centralized control apart from IE, but even there I dont think I can manage plugins via GPO.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Computer vision is the problem of understanding imagery from pixels. We are surrounded by billions of cameras, collecting high resolution video and imagery from diverse sources such as security, social media, aerial and satellite platforms. These images contain actionable information, however, the volume of media generated by these cameras far exceeds the number of analysts needed for effective monitoring. Computer vision and machine learning research based on deep convolutional networks has achieved, or surpassed, human level accuracy in recognizing objects and faces in unconstrained scenes, and STR is developing technology in collaboration with academic partners to further extend this state of the art. STR is leading research efforts in the full stack of video and image processing tasks from (i) 4D modeling to reconstruct 3D models of dynamic scenes to provide situational awareness in large operational areas, (ii) object detection and tracking to provide localization of relevant objects in scenes, (iii) face recognition in the wild to identify subjects, (iv) activity detection to identify and detect threats to national security and (v) adversarial modeling to better understand how to make convolutional networks robust to attack.
Future Anti-Submarine Warefare (ASW)
The most pressing challenge in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is to find a submarine over large open ocean areas and to engage or interdict the submarine in a timely manner. Legacy operations are conducted by manned platforms at significant expense and risk. With the emergence of unmanned systems above and below the waterline, opportunity exists to offset these risks. However scaling solutions to wide areas, managing the complexity of distributed operations across domains, and realizing coordination between manned and unmanned systems requires innovative solutions and strategies.
STR and its partners are conducting system studies and designs leading to prototyping and at-sea testing of unmanned distributed system concepts. We are exploring innovative uses of off-board sonars that integrate into ship and submarine systems that demonstrate the creative use of existing and completely new component technology.
Face recognition performance using deep learning has seen dramatic improvements in recent years. Convolutional networks trained with large datasets of millions of images of thousands of subjects have shown remarkable capability of learning facial representations that are invariant to age, pose, illumination and expression (A-PIE). These representations have shown strong performance for face recognition of imagery and video in-the-wild in unconstrained datasets, with recent approaches demonstrating capabilities that exceed human performance. STR along with our academic and industry partners are performing fundamental research for face detection, verification, identification, clustering, 3D modeling and discriminative visualization to push the state of the art for face recognition in the wild.
3d/4D Scene Understanding
Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) applications, such as site monitoring, security surveillance and mission planning, require a detailed understanding of scene content to correctly and efficiently assess situations and allocate surveillance and targeting resources. Urban and high-relief environments complicate the scene understanding problem by introducing occlusion, shadows, and parallax that make it difficult to identify and track moving objects. STR has developed a mature 3-d reconstruction and object tracking pipeline in aerial and satellite imagery. This pipeline combines image evidence from multiple views, to create a 3-d surface model to support dynamic scene understanding.
Activity Detection
Multi-camera security networks enable security personnel to monitor facilities and critical infrastructure for relevant activities. However, the volume of streaming video generated by these security networks far exceeds the number of analysts needed for effective monitoring. Furthermore, activities and objects of interest to the defense and intelligence community are sufficiently rare that suitably large training sets are not available. As a result, performance for robust activity detection has not yet been realized for large-scale multi-camera networks. STR along with our academic and industry partners are developing a system for robust activity detection that unifies vision, language and geometric modeling to address this performance gap.


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Harnessing The Immune System To Fight Cancer
By Rob Stein
Published February 9, 2015 at 3:33 AM EST
Barbara Marder waits to receive immunotherapy treatment for cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
When Barbara Marder was diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, she had part of her right lung removed, went through a round of chemotherapy and tried to move on with her life.
"I had hoped that everything was fine — that I would not create difficulty for my children, that I would get to see my grandchildren grow up," says Marder, 73, of Arnold, Md.
But a routine scan a year later found bad news: The cancer was back — this time in her other lung.
"I was very disappointed," says Marder. She knew her prognosis was grim. "I decided at that point that ... I should think about the fact that perhaps this was going to advance rapidly at this point. And check and make sure: Is my will in order? What should I do so that my children aren't left with a mess to clean up in my house?"
/ WNYC
Find other stories in the Living Cancer series at WNYC.org.
But Marder didn't give up. She started exploring her options, which eventually brought her to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where doctors are testing a new type of cancer treatment known as immunotherapy.
"Immunotherapy for cancer means developing treatments to harness your immune system and using your own immune system to fight the cancer," says Dr. Julie Brahmer, an associate professor of oncology and Marder's doctor.
Scientists have been trying to do this for decades. After all, our immune systems can fight off all kinds of health threats. So, why not cancer? But nothing seemed to really work.
"It's been very frustrating," Brahmer says.
But scientists recently discovered that cancer takes a page from Harry Potter: It puts on a kind of invisibility cloak.
"Cancer can keep the immune system from recognizing that it's bad and keep it from attacking itself," Brahmer says.
"Cancer immunotherapy is the most exciting thing we have going on in the field."
Now scientists have found a way around this.
"The breakthrough is in therapies called 'checkpoint inhibitors,' " Brahmer says.
Checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that pull off cancer's invisibility cloak by blocking the switch that turns it on.
"It prevents that invisibility cloak or that force field or shield ... from going up," Brahmer says, "so it can't shield itself from the immune system."
And these drugs seem to be working, at least for some patients — melting away the toughest tumors, such as some melanomas, the deadliest kind of skin cancer.
"They seem to be working quite well for multiple different cancers," Brahmer says, including kidney cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancers, lymphoma and even perhaps breast and lung cancers.
So Marder volunteered for one of Brahmer's studies testing a checkpoint inhibitor called nivolumab, or Opdivo, for lung cancer. Within weeks of starting her infusions, the tumors in her left lung began to disappear.
"That was very, very exciting. It really changed my perspective. I thought, 'Jeepers,' " Marder says.
Checkpoint inhibitors can cause serious side effects when the immune system attacks healthy cells, causing dangerous, even sometimes life-threatening organ damage. But so far that appears to be relatively rare.
Most patients just get a little tired. Some, like Marder, get an itchy rash. But compared with traditional chemotherapy, it's easier in most cases.
"You can live a great life," Brahmer says, "travel and try to live your life as normally as possible. That's definitely different than chemotherapy."
One big question is, how long will these drugs keep working? Traditional chemotherapy often stops working with time — the length of effectiveness varies depending on the patient, the type of cancer and the stage at which it was diagnosed. But so far checkpoint inhibitors seem to keep going a lot longer, even in patients who have stopped responding to standard chemotherapy. No one knows yet how much longer.
But Brahmer says so far it looks promising.
"We're reporting three-year survival rates in [lung cancer] patients who we would say typically should not be around," Brahmer says.
For melanoma, researchers have followed patients for even longer, she says.
When Marder went back for a checkup more than a year after starting her treatment, there was still no sign of her cancer. Marder was thrilled.
"I'm very fortunate," she says.
But another big question about these drugs is how much they cost: more than $120,000 for each round. That has drawn some intense criticism.
"Cancer immunotherapy is the most exciting thing we have going on in the field," says Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "It's frustrating that the companies are gouging the U.S. system with their prices."
The companies that make checkpoint inhibitors defend their price tags and say they will help make sure patients can afford them.
"Any patient who needs access to a checkpoint inhibitor made by Bristol-Myers Squibb will have access through a robust patient-assistance program," says Michael Giordano, who heads oncology drug development at the company.
Brahmer hopes doctors will figure out a way to cut the costs and says patients may not have to stay on the drugs indefinitely. That's because when patients stop taking them, immune system cells known as T-cells seem to remember how to keep the body cancer-free.
"We think that over time your immune system creates memory," Brahmer says.
The T-cells remember how to attack the tumor and stop the cancer from putting up a shield. "So those T-cells continually keep that cancer under control. Even without treatment," Brahmer says.
Brahmer might try that for Marder. But for now, she's coming back every two weeks to receive infusions, and because she is in a study, Marder doesn't have to pay for the drug.
Brahmer knows she and other researchers will have to treat many more patients for a lot longer to really know just how well these checkpoint inhibitors work, and for how long. Many scientists suspect it will take a combination of checkpoint inhibitors to get the most out of our immune systems to fight cancer.
"We're trying to figure out how to personalize this treatment," Brahmer says. "Who needs just one checkpoint inhibitor? Who needs a combination to really unleash the immune system? That's where this is probably headed."
Our series is produced with member station WNYC, and with WETA, whose documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies will air on PBS in March.
Rob Stein
Rob Stein is a correspondent and senior editor on NPR's science desk.
See stories by Rob Stein


Rebecca here. I am an avid: food advocate, natural medicine advocate, wife, crunchy momma, dog mom, Jesus lover, beach going, mountain hiking, essential oil lover, and Bible advocate. I live somewhere on the West Coast. Did I mention I love the snow and to read?


-Pneumatic plastic strapping tool for friction weld seal. -Designed to provide the highest level of tension required for heavy duty polyester strapping. -Used for strapping flat and round packages. -Only weighs 11.6 pounds.


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MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Students in the Memphis area got a special coding experience on Saturday.
The Hour of Code, hosted by CodeCrew, is a part of Computer Science Education Week.
The week honors computer programming pioneer Grace Murray Hopper.
The Memphis event was one of more than 100,000 Hour of Code events in the world.


The Ides of March are near.
And soon will have its say.
Are hints of green and gold.
Are shining proud and bold.
For Spring is in the air.
The twisty path that life takes us down sometimes brings us into the circle of a person we can call friend. We may meet at the home of a mutual friend, or we may meet in a writing group. Over time we get to know and like them. We look forward to seeing them; indeed, we expect to see them at certain parties, as if they were the underpinning of the entire event.
When they are suddenly taken from this life with no advance warning, you are stunned, feeling as if you were ambushed by their death.
Perhaps it was a close friend, or maybe it was a person you were only beginning to know well. Either way we are faced with a disconcerting feeling of being left behind—not that we wanted to die, but rather that we didn't want a person we cared about to leave without us.
When a parent, a spouse, a sibling or a child dies, there are no words to describe the pain. The same goes for the death of that friend who is your other half, your 'bestie', your brother-in-arms.
The friend who would help you bury the body.
That loss is a tearing, shattering pain time may ease, but which always leaves a scar. Every person handles this experience in a different way. Some of us become better people through surviving a devastating personal loss, and some do not.
The death of a friend who is more than simply an acquaintance, yet not intimately tangled in your life is a different kind of loss.
It's one we will all experience, and perhaps it's not as profound as the loss of your best friend, but it is no less shocking and disconcerting. That death is experienced differently than if he were a friend who is a close family member.
He is someone we had known only a few years, a friend we were only beginning to really know. He is someone who is in many ways a mystery although we regularly met at parties and social events. He is someone with whom we have enjoyed long conversations over wine and cheese, shared risqué jokes, and laughed at the incongruities of life.
We had only started to walk the road of life together, only begun to know him as a traveling companion, and suddenly he is gone.
When a friend who is not yet close to you dies, a hole is left in your life, a hole filled with possibilities, packed with the prospect of what your friendship could have grown into, given more time and more parties.
Although it's comforting to know that he touched more lives than just ours, it's hard to realize we'll never talk about wine with him again, never see him standing in that spot he always claimed in Nancy's kitchen, never see him and his little dogs again.
Never hear him tease, "Vegan chili is an oxymoron," as he serves himself at the buffet.
It's hard to imagine him going alone into that unknowable frontier we must all eventually pass into, hard to imagine him letting go of this life when he was so vivid and filled with energy and passion for his art the last time we saw him. I will never pour a glass of wine again without thinking of our good friend who loved the craft and the art of wine-making so much, and whose wines were the source of many happy moments for many more people than just me.
His many friends are now feeling the same sense of loss and confusion I am feeling. My heart goes out to his close family and to our dear friends Michael and Nancy, intimate friends of his who are stunned and bereft; loved ones who still can't believe he's gone.
Patrick—our glass will always be half-full, because of the joy and companionship of good friends like you.


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Could CMHC disappear over time?
Posted on Dec 4, 2013 in Mortgage Market Updates and News
Garry Marr
http://business/financialpost/author/garrymarr
Imagine a world without Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Today you can walk into a financial institution and try to borrow money for a home with only 5% of the purchase price, provided there's an agreement between you and the bank that you'll buy mortgage default insurance.
What happens next if the government is no longer behind that mortgage, making sure the people loaning the money or the investors buying that loan get paid, should you not make your payments?
For starters, you might gently be shown the door because nobody wants your credit risk or you might be told the risk is so high you can forget about interest calculated at 3.25% for the next five years — the rate you can still get in part because of Ottawa's backing.
The International Monetary Fund waded into Canada's housing market Wednesday and while it didn't come right out and suggest that the CMHC should be abolished and the government get out of backing loans, the institution is calling for changes.
"Over the long run, the need for extensive government-backed mortgage insurance should be re-examined," said the IMF, in its statement.
Anyone with less than a 20% downpayment on a home must get mortgage default insurance if they are borrowing from a financial institution regulated by the Bank Act. The government backs 100% of loans that CMHC insures and 90% for private corporations.
It was unclear if the IMF was calling for the government to reduce its backing of mortgage insurance companies, a move that would it make loans riskier for banks to take on and harder to securitize.
"Looking ahead, further measures should be considered to encourage appropriate risk retention by the private sector and increase the market share of private mortgage insurers. Importantly, any structural change should be made gradually over time to avoid any unintended consequence on financial stability," the IMF said.
Ottawa backstops close to $1-trillion in Canadian mortgages but the likelihood of all those loans going bad with zero equity in assets seems far-fetched, but the IMF did say the present system exposes the government to risk.
Jim Flaherty, the finance minister, has mused about eventually privatizing CMHC — the Crown corporation which controls about 75% of the mortgage default insurance market — and first told a National Post editorial board in April 2012 that he had considered getting the government out of the mortgage insurance business.
"I think there is a role to regulate but whether we, the Canadian people, have to be the owners and shareholders of a financial institution to do this is a question. I don't think it's essential in the long run," he said at the time.
Peter Routledge, an analyst with National Bank, said if we move to a system where mortgage insurers are all back-stopped to 90%, mortgages rates would be higher but only marginally.
What if we eliminate all government backing? "Mortgage rates would be a lot higher," said Mr. Routledge."The great benefit of the system is it has pretty much democratized and equalized credit for the household."
Finn Poschmann, vice-president of research at the C.D. Howe Institute, noted in Australia the government is not directly involved in backing residential mortgages and credit hasn't dried up.
"You can put private capital in the first loss position," said Mr. Poschmann, adding that mitigates the risk that government faces. In such a scenario the private insurer has to go bankrupt before the government is forced to step in.
"There is nothing on the face of it that is wrong with mortgage insurance. What you want to do however is make sure the risks associated with it are understood, priced appropriately and borne by those willing to bear those risks," said Mr. Poschmann.
Less government involvement could also mean customers with stronger credit would get better rates because they are more desirable. There would also be more regional risk pricing — a stronger local economy making loans a better risk in some provinces.
"Eventually this will happen, it has to, it's only logical," says Mr. Poschmann, about the government pulling back from insuring mortgages.
Rob McLister, editor of Canadian Mortgage Trends, said he would like to see more research into the impact of pulling out of the sector on the housing market.
Over the last decade, CMHC says it has contributed more than $17- billion to Ottawa through both its income taxes and net income. Of the $17-billion, the insurance business has contributed $15-billion.
"I'm not saying it's bad idea, I'm saying somebody has to do some hard core analysis on this and put the numbers out there. I've never seen it," said Mr. McLister.